Argenteuil

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Commune of Argenteuil
Administration
Country	France
Region	Île-de-France
Department	Val-d'Oise (sous-préfecture)
Arrondissement	Argenteuil
Canton	Chief town of 3 cantons
Intercommunality	Communauté d'agglomération Argenteuil - Bezons
Mayor	Georges Mothron (2001-2008)
Statistics
Land area¹	17.22 km²
Population² (July 1, 2004 estimate) (March 8, 1999 census)	100,600 93,961
- Density (2004)	5,842/km²
Miscellaneous
Postal code	95100
¹ French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 mi² or 247 acres) and river estuaries.
² Population sans doubles comptes: single count of residents of multiple communes (e.g. students and military personnel).

Argenteuil is a commune in the northwestern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located 12.3 km. (7.6 miles) from the center of Paris. Argenteuil is a sous-préfecture of the Val-d'Oise département, being the seat of the Arrondissement of Argenteuil.

Contents 1 Name 2 History 3 Demographics 3.1 Immigration 4 Famous people born in Argenteuil 5 Transport 6 External links

[edit] Name

The name Argenteuil was recorded for the first time in a royal charter of 697 as Argentoialum, from a Latin/Celtic radical argento meaning "silver", "silvery", "shiny", perhaps in reference to the gleaming surface of the river Seine, on the banks of which Argenteuil is located, and from a Celtic suffix -ialo meaning "clearing, glade", "place of".

[edit] History

Argenteuil was founded as a convent in the 7th century (→ Pierre Abélard, Convent of Argenteuil). The monastery that arose from the convent was destroyed during the French Revolution.

Argenteuil was known for the white asparagus and grapes grown there. The word Argenteuil is synonymous with asparagus on menus. Once a rural escape for Parisians, it is now a suburb of Paris. Painters made Argenteuil famous, including Claude Monet, Jean-Etienne Delacroix, Pierre-Auguste Renoir and Georges Braque.

[Argenteuil Basilica:[1],[2]

[edit] Demographics

[edit] Immigration

Place of birth of Argenteuil's residents in 1999 Born in Metropolitan France Born outside of Metropolitan France 77.5% 22.5% Born in Overseas France Born in foreign countries with French citizenship at birth¹ EU-15 immigrants² Non-EU-15 immigrants 2.1% 2.1% 4.3% 14.0% ¹This group is made up in large part of pieds-noirs from Northwest Africa, then also of former colonial citizens who had French citizenship at birth (such as was often the case for native elites in the French colonies), and in a smaller measure of foreign-born children of French expatriates. Note that a foreign country is understood as a country not part of France as of 1999, so a person born for example in 1950 in Algeria, at which time Algeria was an integral part of France, is nonetheless listed as a person born in a foreign country by French statistics. ² An immigrant is a person born in a foreign country and who did not have French citizenship at birth. Note that an immigrant may have acquired French citizenship since moving to France, but is still considered an immigrant by French statistics. On the other hand, persons born in France with a foreign citizenship (the children of immigrants) are not listed as immigrants.

[edit] Famous people born in Argenteuil

• Georges Braque, May 3, 1882, Co-founder of cubism and sculptor.
• Ingrid Chauvin, (b. October 3, 1973), French actress.
• Chevalier d'Argenteuil, (fl. in Newfoundland, Canada 1709-13), French Soldier; he captured Fort William at St. John's Newfoundland in 1709

[edit] Transport

Argenteuil is served by two stations on the Transilien Paris – Saint-Lazare suburban rail line: Argenteuil and Val d'Argenteuil.

[edit] External links

• Official website

The Seine at Argenteuil, by Claude Monet, 1874

Edouard Manet - Argenteuil, 1875

Edouard Manet - Seine near Argenteuil, 1874

Coordinates: 48°56′55″N, 2°14′54″E